Daily Positive Thoughts: July 12, 2013: What Lies Within

Daily Positive Thoughts: July 12, 2013: What Lies Within

This small waterfall located in the Shale Creek Preserve along a section of the Chestnut Ridge Park, near Buffalo New York has a rather interesting phenomena associated with it. The aptly named “Eternal Flame Falls” sits on a pocket of natural methane gas, which seeps out through a fracture in the rocks behind the waterfall.

What Lies Within

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

From space, the earth is one beautiful planet.

The planet teaches us to have no boundaries, no barriers.
To be less judgemental and more accepting.
To open our hearts and minds and embrace all.

Inculcating Powers Through Rajyoga Meditation -
The Power To Withdraw

The aim of Raja Yoga meditation is to strengthen ones nature so much so that situations which previously might have defeated us, we now find easy to handle. So, the power to withdraw does not mean running away from life, but the ability to find a safe space inside oneself, even in the midst of life.

An image used to illustrate this power is that of the tortoise. When there is danger, the tortoise instantly goes inside its shell, which it carries with it everywhere. In the same way, when I am faced with negativity or active hostility from people and situations around me, there is great strength in become introverted, even for a moment, so as to touch base with the point of peace inside my own being. In doing so, I find not only shelter, but also stability, so that I protect myself from any hostile reactions on my part.

(To be continued tomorrow .....)

Soul Sustenance

The Role Of Emotions In The Functioning Of The Soul

Inside the soul, there are four components – thoughts, feelings, emotions and ‘sanskaras’.Thoughts and feelings are present more on the surface of the soul in the conscious. Emotions and ‘sanskaras’ on the other hand are less easily perceived and lie below thoughts and feelings.

‘Sanskaras’ can be defined as the traces left on the soul due to actions performed by it and also due to its interactions with others in relationships.

Emotions, on the other hand, are impulses associated with the ‘sanskaras’ and are very close to these traces.

The internal functioning of the soul is cyclic - ‘thoughts gives rise to actions, actions give rise to ‘sanskaras’, and ‘sanskaras’ give rise to further thoughts’.This description becomes complete, when we add an additional component – emotions. The deepest component inside the soul is the ‘sanskaras’.Next up from ‘sanskaras’ are the emotions, above that are feelings and then finally the uppermost component inside the soul is the thoughts.

Thoughts can be caught instantly. Feelings can be seen and perceived if I stop for a moment and check. Emotions are deeper than both of them and are very close to the ‘sanskaras’, and just as its difficult to see all the ‘sanskaras’of an individual, we can't always see their emotions. Feelings, being more towards the surface, can be clearly identified, but you have to go deeper to see the quality of emotions a person is creating and the quality of his/her‘sanskaras’.
Message for the day

The fire of anger can be cooled with the sprinkling of the cool water of virtues.

Expression: When someone is angry, we come under the influence of the situation and we too get angry. It seems very difficult at that moment to remain cool. With our own anger we find that the other person's anger also increases. But we find that this is not the solution because it doesn't help either of us in anyway.

Experience: Instead of getting angry and aggravating the anger of the other person, we need to instead emerge our qualities or virtues of coolness and peace. We will then find that where anger doesn't work, only the cool water of virtues will help us put off the fire of anger.